New season, new ideas

Spring is well and truly here. I want to find ways of growing in my own small garden this year.

The allotment society didn't like my recycling and I was tired of their complaining so I left. It is surprising how many fruit plants/trees I have managed to mix in with our existing plants, I even found room for the rhubarb!


So far I managed to add:-

Black currant
Gooseberry
Rhubarb
Raspberry
Blueberry

Now it's time to find some large pots or alternative ideas for growing more. Tomatoes, cucumber and beetroot are the hot favourites.

Hydroponics for Beginners

No Dig Potatoes

My no dig potato strategy looks likes it has helped my plants through the long dry spell. We'll soon see if the hay has kept the slugs away.

I'll try and post some pictures soon.

Starting Indoor Winter Tomatoes

I have to try this year.

As my previous blog shows I had a go last year but forgot it takes two to tango and had no fruit.

This year I am going to try two and see if they will produce any fruit. Fresh tomatoes at Christmas??

Self Watering System

I found this on YouTube after checking quite a few this was the best one I found and shows all the principals you should need for your own system.

The picture does not do it justice it is more comprehensive than that!

Back to the garden soon, winter tomatoes

Had no time to post due to a few ill people in the family the last few months of last year. Looking forward to some experimenting and blogging this year!

I had a tomato plant in my windowsill this winter as an experiment and although it was a little leggy it had plenty of flowers and grew about two foot high.

I didn't expect it to work and with hindsight experimenting with two would have been a better idea, the birds and bees and all that.

I made a self watering pot by cutting a 2 litre bottle in half, putting one half inside the other and filling the top with compost. I'll post photos or a video if I get the chance.

Has anyone else grown indoor winter tomatoes?

Have you discovered Freecycle

Just a quick note about Freecycle. You will probably find a local group on Yahoo as there are 100s of them.

People post messages of what they have available or are looking for. It's a great way to find recycleable materials, tools and other freebies and get rid of items to people who can make use of them.

It saves the price of a skip. I found all the tools I needed for my new allotment on there for free and only about a mile away.

Click here to search for your local freecycle group.